Date: Thursday 25 March, 5pm
Location: Prince Claus Fund Gallery
Herengracht 603, Amsterdam
The exhibition shows photos of Sapeurs that Daniele Tamagni took for the publication ‘Gentlemen of the Bacongo’. Sapeurs elevate fashion to the status of a religion. Eccentric, expensive haute couture clothes determine their identity. In addition to looking good it is essential to live by the rules of elegance and good manners. A Sapeur for instance will never combine more than three colours in one outfit. In terms of age, profession, personality, taste and looks Sapeurs differ but are all member of the Society for Advancement of People of Elegance (SAPE). The Sape originated in the eighties and still remains a much admired and copied phenomenon. Most of the Sapeurs originate from Congo and use this lifestyle to better their life. In order to afford this, a lot of the Sapeurs comb the markets for second-hand garments.
Daniele Tamagni is an Italian art historian and freelance photographer. A lot of his work is documentary, he has a great interest in African and Caribbean cultures and he publicizes regularly in the Italian Magazine ‘Africa’. He published the book ‘Gentlemen of Bacongo’ (2009, Trolley).
Sapeurs Willy Covary (on photo), Dixy Ndalla and Armel Le Bachelor shall attend the opening on 25 March.
The Prince Claus Fund and the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts in 2010 present an international art programme in Amsterdam.
Interesting individuals from around the world will come to Amsterdam and address unexpected current issues through fashion, visual arts, photography, film, music and dance.
Within the international art programme more activities related to the phenomenon of the Sapeurs will be organized. The site will be updated regularly.
filmmaker Anocha Suwichakornpong from Thailand receives Film Grant at CineMart Closing Night Party
The 2010 Prince Claus Fund Film Grant goes to By the Time It Gets Dark, written by Anocha Suwichakornpong (1976, Thailand). The storyline chronicles the adventures and misadventures of a strong women who is looking for freedom in the way she lives. Despite its metaphorical sounding title, the film is based on the physical realities of everyday life. In co-operation with CineMart, the Prince Claus Fund Film Grant is awarded to support the initial creative phase of the development of a film production. The Grant is annually presented to a CineMart project by a filmmaker from Africa, Asia, Latin America or the Caribbean.
The jury is impressed by the use of unconventional ‘episodic’ storytelling to evoke a strong and highly personal perspective on contemporary Thailand. The story is only advanced by the inner desires of the main character, while exploring the physical realities of everyday life and digging deep into the landscapes, whether they be the factories and high rise buildings of the expanding mega polis of Bangkok or the natural beauty of Thailand. It is a portrait of Thailand that will never make it to the tourist-billboard dotted Bangkok. By The Time It Gets Dark will be the second feature film of a young, yet mature filmmaker, that has already impressed the jury with her first feature film Mundane History, currently in competition at IFFR.
The script evokes a strong and unique perspective on Thai culture, as marvellous sceneries combined with images and sound overtake established conventions of storytelling. To quote director Anocha Suwichakornpong, ‘It is my intention to make a film that digs deep into the landscapes, whether they be the man-made landscape or the natural landscape [....] it is the heroine’s inner conflicts and her emotions which remain the core of the story, and thus the main subjects of study in this film.’
Anocha Suwichakornpong (1976, Thailand) graduated in 2006 from an MFA Film Programme at Columbia University (New York). There she was the recipient of a Hollywood Foreign Press Association Fellowship. Suwichakornpong’s Graceland (2006) became the first Thai short film to screen at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, and also screened at the IFFR 2007. Suwichakornpong directed Lunch, as part of the Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner trilogy, a feature co-directed by Asian female directors from China, Thailand, and Singapore scheduled for release in 2010. Suwichakornpong’s first feature Mundane History (2009) was supported by the Hubert Bals Fund, and is screened in the VPRO Tiger Awards Competition at IFFR 2010.
The Jury of the 2010 Prince Claus Fund Film Grant consists of: Bregtje van der Haak, chair (Netherlands), political scientist, journalist, documentary maker and member of the Prince Claus Fund Board; Maartje Nevejan (Netherlands), documentary maker; KarimTraïdia (Algeria/Netherlands), film maker; Violeta Bava (Argentina), Co-Director of BuenosAires Lab, BuenosAires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente and Peter Rorvik (SouthAfrica) director of Durban International Film Festival.
The Prince Claus Fund Film Grant supports the first creative phase of the development of a film production. CineMart is the co-production market of the International Film Festival Rotterdam. An international jury of professionals covering different fields of the film industry will select a CineMart project by a filmmaker from Africa,Asia, Latin America or the Caribbean.This project will be chosen for its innovative qualities and excellent concept. The objective of the Prince Claus Fund Film Grant is to highlight a filmmaker of great quality who inspires other filmmakers with engaged stories. Since 2001, the Prince Claus Fund Film Grant has contributed to the realisation of four film productions: The Photograph (2007), by Nan T. Achnas, Indonesia; Hamaca Paraguaya (2006) by Paz Encina, Paraguay; La Nuit de laVerité (2004) by Fanta Régina Nacro, France/Burkina Faso and The Forsaken Land (2005) by Vimukhti Jayasundara, Sri Lanka which won a Caméra d’Or on the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.
Contact:
Sebas van der Sangen s.vandersangen@princeclausfund.nl Tel.: +31(0)20 3449160 / Mob.: +31(0)619638346
Please note that the venue has changed
Okwui Enwezor, renowned Nigeria born curator and art critic will elaborate on the development of contemporary African art since 1980. Okwui Enwezor is a member of the Editorial Board of the Prince Claus Fund Library and advisor to the Prince Claus Fund Knowledge Centre.
Okwui Enwezor will present his latest publication Contemporary African Art Since 1980 (Damani, 2009).
Enwezor will reflect on the ways artists have responded to social and political changes in Africa, and how they have incorporated new aesthetic principles and artistic concepts, images and imageries to deal with such changes.
Okwui Enwezor will sign his book Contemporary African Art Since 1980, which is available for 50 euro after the presentation in Felix Meritis and at Athenaeum Bookstore.
Date: Thursday 21 January
Start: 7.30 pm
Location: Felix Meritis, Keizersgracht 324, Amsterdam
Language: English
Please register by sending an email to m.gratama@princeclausfund.nl
Contemporary African Art Since 1980
Contemporary African Art Since 1980 is the first major survey of the work of contemporary African artists from diverse situations, locations, and generations who work either in or outside of Africa, but whose practices engage and occupy the social and cultural complexities of the continent since the past 30 years. Its frame of analysis is absorbed with historical transitions: from the end of the postcolonial utopias of the sixties during the 1980s to the geopolitical, economic, technological, and cultural shifts incited by globalization. This book is both narrower in focus in the periods it reflects on, and specific in the ground it covers. It begins by addressing the tumultuous landscape of contemporary Africa, examining landmarks and narratives, exploring divergent systems of representation, and interrogating the ways artists have responded to change and have incorporated new aesthetic principles and artistic concepts, images and imaginaries to deal with such changes. Organized in chronological order, the book covers all major artistic mediums: painting, sculpture, photography, film, video, installation, drawing, collage. It also covers aesthetic forms and genres, from conceptual to formalist, abstract to figurative practices. Moving between discursive and theoretical registers, the principal questions the book analyzes are: what and when is contemporary African art? Who might be included in the framing of such a conceptual identity? It also addresses the question of globalization and contemporary African art.
Okwui Enwezor, a leading curator and scholar of contemporary art, is the former Dean of Academic Affairs at the San Francisco Art Institute, and founding publisher and editor of Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art.
Chika Okeke-Agulu is Assistant Professor of Art and Archeology and African American Studies at Princeton University, and editor of Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art.
The publication Contemporary African Art Since 1980 is available for 50 euro at Athenaeum Bookstore.
Willy Covary
Le vieux Parisien
Sapeurs Willy Covary (on upper photo), Dixy Ndalla and Armel Le Bachelor shall attend the opening on 25 March.
The grant is presented to Anocha Suwichakornpong
Anocha Suwichakornpong
Download the entire Jury report
Read an interview with Anocha Suwichakornpong on the site of the IFFR:
Okwui Enwezor will sign his book Contemporary African Art Since 1980, which is available for 50 euro after the presentation in Felix Meritis and at Athenaeum Bookstore.
